PROOF STRATEGIES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, National Lead, Unified Marketing Communications
As Senior Vice President, Unified Marketing and Communications, Andrew achieves results for clients by identifying, designing and executing integrated experiences to understand, connect and engage with audiences in a meaningful way. It's his role to develop and execute integrated and measurable communications plans rooted in customer insights, market research and defined business priorities, through owned, earned and paid media channels.
Andrew is happiest when collaborating with smart and talented people to create experiences that enrich people's lives: creative that inspires and delights; digital products that provide value and utility; connecting with consumers by being relevant and responsive.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chairman
- Founding President
- Member of the Leadership Team
Bruce MacLellan is the founding President & CEO of Proof Strategies. Wanting to work somewhere with smart people solving interesting challenges and who were also kind, he started a new agency.
Bruce's success combines growing thriving businesses with building strong internal cultures of inclusion, empathy and excellence. He is known for asking good questions and encouraging people to go outside their comfort zone.
Bruce's commitment to the environment runs deep. It resulted in Proof Strategies becoming the first North American marketing agency to be carbon neutral (since 2008). The company is also the only communications agency ever to be named the #1 workplace in Canada by the Great Places to Work Institute (2010).
An active volunteer, he is the current Chair of Canada's National History Society, past-Chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, past-Chair of the CPRS Foundation, and past-Chair of the Public Relations Bachelor Degree Program Advisory Committee at Humber College.
In politics, Bruce has worked in the Canadian government as Chief of Staff to the Minister of National Defence, supporting the brave men and women in the Armed Forces. Provincially, he worked as Executive Assistant to the Minister of Culture, protecting and investing in the heritage and diverse culture of Ontario.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, National Lead, Consumer & Technology
With 20+ years of experience working with global CPG, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, arts and culture brands, Bunmi is a seasoned public relations, marketing and communications expert. Starting her career in Europe during the dot.com boom, and then as a journalist, Bunmi harnesses her experience and background todevise robust and creative campaigns that make major impact and deliver tangible results. An empathetic, intuitive and entrepreneurial leader, Bunmi fosters a collaborative and motivating environment with team members and clients alike. She excels at talent and influencer relations, media relations, social media and strategic partnerships. Bunmi is co-founder of Code Black Communicator Network, which is a resource for the advancement of Black integrated communications professionals. In April 2023, Bunmi was recognized by The Globe and Mail's Report on Business as a Best Executive for her leadership and work in Sales & Marketing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, National Lead, Corporate & Financial
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, National Lead, Health & Wellness
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Leadership Team
Josh is a communications veteran with over two decades of experience supporting some of the world's leading brands. Josh brings a wide range of communications experience and expertise to clients in the areas of crisis planning and management, corporate communications, media training, brand building, stakeholder relations and multi-disciplinary program planning. Josh has provided voluntary support to Tropicana Community Services, been a guest speaker at Queen's University and University of Guelph-Humber and is a regular media commentator on public relations matters. Josh's work is infused with passion and creativity, earning Proof and its clients over a dozen marketing awards, and even two entries in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, Client Relationships
Liz Carson has more than 20 years of communications experience of helping brands grow. As an integrated communications specialist, Liz helps brands tell their stories, create a stronger strategic presence and deliver a consistent and compelling narrative across all channels. Her expertise and passion points include integrated planning, strategy rooted in insights, influencer marketing and optimizing growth.
From start-ups to global brands, Liz works across a wide-variety of sectors from B2B to B2C including well-known leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Catelli, and Panasonic to key stakeholders such as Dieticians of Canada, Special Olympics and Breakfast Clubs of Canada.
Liz is at her best when collaborating to solve new challenges, developing new relationships, navigating the evolving influencer landscape and contributing to the overall growth of a business.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, USA
Matt is a veteran U.S.-based communicator who has provided strategic counsel to clients in the public and private sectors. He has served as an on-the-record spokesman, managed crisis communications, guided multi-million-dollar paid media campaigns, and advised executives for Fortune 1,000 companies with their branding and positioning. He has more than a decade of experience managing large cross-functional teams that have delivered exceptional results for clients. Matt has also served in senior communications roles for U.S. politicians, and government officials, as well as issue advocacy campaigns ranging from climate change to infant health.
Prior to Proof Strategies, he worked for a Washington, D.C. based communications firm and the consulting firm, Deloitte & Touche. He started his career in political communications and for more than a decade worked on major federal and state campaigns. Matt is scheduled to graduate with an MBA from Boston University in the spring of 2025. He earned a B.A. from George Mason University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP, National Lead, Public Affairs & Government Relations
Communicating messages in clear, compelling ways that resonate with multiple stakeholders is part of what makes Melody quickly become a part of any client team. Melody's varied experience covers many facets: strategic planning, integrated communications, media & influencer relations, stakeholder campaigns and crisis & issues management. Her career spans both the B2B and B2C spaces, which allows her to apply many best practices to enable client success. Often her clients are in highly regulated environments, which requires a deep understanding of governments and policy implications.
Melody is a Durham College Alumna of Distinction and an Ontario Premiers Outstanding College Graduate nominee. She has also won numerous awards from IABC and CPRS throughout her career.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- SVP & Co - General Manager, Montreal
Miriam Lauzon is a seasoned communicator with 15 years of experience who joined Capital-Image in 2005. She became Senior Vice-President and co-manager of Capital-Image in January 2020.
She provides strategic communications and marketing advice to companies and major brands to increase their presence and enhance their reputation in Quebec. Over the years, she has also supported multinationals with their corporate social responsibility programs and brand positioning exercises. She enjoys working closely with Proof Strategies' clients and delivering excellent service.
A graduate of the Université de Montréal where she obtained a BA degree in Communications, she is also the recipient of several provincial and national PR awards. She received her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 2014 and was named Top 40 Under 40 from PR in Canada in 2018. She recently completed a Business Management degree at HEC Montréal.
Job Titles:
- Creative Director
- Member of the Leadership Team
With over a decade's experience in advertising, marketing, and communications, Sarah's creative approach is anchored in the belief that effective marketing campaigns don't exist in a vacuum. They exist in - and are informed by - the real world. And that's how they succeed.
As a fierce advocate for audience-centred and insight-driven creative, Sarah brings a multi-disciplinary approach to creative thinking and leadership, making her a passionate advocate for work that is data-driven, results-oriented, and collaborative. Her focus is on integrating data, technology, testing, and strategy into the development of creative marketing campaigns.
Blending results-driven thinking with a keen ear for authenticity, storytelling, compassion, and humour, Sarah has helped develop effective communications strategies and campaigns for prominent brands across a wide range of industries, such as Allergan Aesthetics, Leon's, Electro Federation Canada, President's Choice Financial, WD-40, and more.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President & General Manager, Montreal
Silvie Letendre is a fully bilingual, accomplished communications professional with 30 years of experience from both the agency and client side, including 16 years working for large multinationals based out of Montreal. Silvie joined Capital-Image in 2014 and became its president in January 2020. She and her team work closely with Proof Strategies, the long-term partner of Capital-Image, to provide an in-depth expertise of the Quebec market to a large array of clients.
Strategic, business savvy and highly seasoned in corporate reputation and crisis management, Silvie has successfully spearheaded countless PR campaigns in support of iconic brands over the years.
She has also led innovative programs that tap into key stakeholders to support business objectives
and grow market share. Over the years, she has delivered on joint programs with policy and governmental relations experts and has trained corporate spokespersons to help them get ready for media relations campaigns and delicate news announcements. She has also developed numerous internal communications and employee engagement initiatives as well as corporate social responsibility programs.
Silvie holds a BA in Psychology and a minor in Public Affairs from Concordia University. She has completed a Certificate in Public Relations from Université de Montréal and was granted her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in 1999. In 2016, she was inducted into the prestigious College of Fellows of the Canadian Public Relations Society.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President
In her 23 years with Proof Strategies Vanessa has held several positions starting from senior consultant, working her way up to become leader of Proof's Health & Wellness Practice where she specialized in building high performing and trusting teams and advising clients in the pharmaceutical and not-for-profit health sectors on building and protecting brand reputations. From there Vanessa moved on to spearhead the agency's innovation and growth efforts. During this time, Vanessa collaborated with Proof's CEO on the creation and launch of Proof's trust study, The CanTrust Index.
In her current role, Vanessa is focused on driving company strategy and empowering our employees to deliver best in class experiences, aligned with our values, for our clients across practice teams. She works with teams to identify and apply learnings, adapting and improving along the way to ensure relevant solutions and results are delivered that meet clients' evolving needs.
Vanessa is a recipient of the Globe and Mail's 2021 Report on Business Best Executive Award in the sales and marketing category, which celebrates excellence among non-CEO leaders.